Australia presses for Human Rights Council seat despite UN criticism

Matthew Knott, Sarah Whyte

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says Australia is a leading contender to win a seat on the United Nations' pre-eminent human rights body despite scathing recent criticism from the UN of the government's asylum seeker policies.

Ms Bishop said Australia will leverage its performance on the UN Security Council – where it played a lead role securing access for an international investigation into the MH17 plane crash – to help secure a spot on the UN Human Rights Council.

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While the previous Labor government announced Australia's candidature, Ms Bishop is personally committed to the bid. She said last year Australia could achieve more on the Human Rights Council than the Security Council.

In September the incoming UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jordan's Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, said Australia's offshore processing of asylum seekers and turn-back-the-boats policy had led to "a chain of human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and possible torture following return to home countries".